


What Happened to Us?

by robotleech



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: 2 bros hanging out in a sunset 5 feet apart because they're really fucking sad, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bittersweet Ending, Canon-Typical Behavior, Minecraft, Not RPF, Post-Cornerstone, also i hate tagging their irl names but.....yknow, mostly platonic but if you squint???, no beta we die like men!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25256926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotleech/pseuds/robotleech
Summary: “I just wanted to say hello.”“You never want to just 'say hello' without causing problems. Something’s always in it for you.”---It's time to pack up and leave Cornerstone. Rythian decides to take a break from packing, and Lalna decides to join him. There's a lot of unspoken words between them, but they cannot stay unspoken forever.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	What Happened to Us?

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably my first published fic in probably five years. I mean, it sat in my notes for a good four months when it was finished so it better be good. Finally got the guts to post it though.  
> Also, this can be construed as Rythna but it's not intended to be so!! Sometimes two bros can just be really upset they're not bros anymore.

The day was coming to a close; the stars could be seen in the darker parts of the sky as the sun descended below the horizon. Clouds reflected the golden light like a watercolor painting, and the contrast of reds and blues reminded Rythian how deeply beautiful these worlds were. He lay in the grass, back to the sky and eyes towards the stars, simply taking in this existence that had taken him so long to value. The mage closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose, relishing these moments of twilight.

Then, Rythian heard footsteps approach him, and then a body settle beside him in the grass. He opened one eye and tilted his head slightly - not enough to be noticed - and glanced at the head of blonde hair and face of purple.

“Lousy bit of work you’re doing,” Lalna commented casually. “We’re trying to pack up, you’re enjoying the sunset?” The remark was playful in nature, but it made Rythian tense slightly. Even though the two had been passive for nearly half a year, they had not shared many moments in private, if any.

“I’ve done enough,” Rythian responded coldly. “They’re doing just fine without me.”

Lalna said nothing, but Rythian heard the rustle of movement next to him. The endermage opened his eyes and looked at the back of the scientist who now was sitting up, watching the sunset drift delicately downwards at a pace so quick yet way too far away for the naked eye to document. They were silent, watching the same sun and sharing the same stars at the same time under the same sky. They were similar in this way. Similar in many, but never focusing on that.

Lalna glanced back, meeting Rythian’s eyes for a moment. “I—“ they spoke at the same time, awkwardly turning away as soon as the syllable was dropped.

“I don’t know why you’re over here,” Rythian decided to speak first. His words dripped off his tongue like acid, which burned Lalna. It was, however, expected behavior.

“I just wanted to say hello.”

“You never want to just 'say hello' without causing problems. Something’s always in it for you.”

Lalna looked back again, holding Rythian’s gaze a little longer than before. He didn’t really know what to say — it was true that he was not deserving of Rythian’s kindness nor respect. Rythian had been pleasurable during the months they associated, same with Lalna, but it was true enough that the air was never cleared between them. Many talks with Nano suggested that Lalna had done seriously wrong. Rythian was civil when she was around. Playful, even. A hint of what Lalna used to have years ago. 

“I know,” Lalna could only manage. He removed his goggles from his forehead and held them in his fist, which lay on the ground. His hair was a mess, per usual, and Rythian noted that in his head. “I’m glad you weren’t, like, a major dick to me these past weeks.”

Rythian narrowed his eyes, unsure of how to take the comment. 

“Nano likes you, you know? She’s sort of captivated by your whole,” Lalna waved a hand at Rythian, “ _thing_ you have going on.”

“What 'thing' is that?” Rythian raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I don’t know!” Lalna flopped down in the grass again, hands above his head and goggles following. He whined like a child and seemed almost pathetic to Rythian, whose heart twisted in response. “I think I was coming out here to apologize, but I know you kinda hate me doing that, right?” Lalna turned his head towards Rythian with this big dumb smile on his face, but it was weirdly sad to look at and made Rythian feel so strange.

“I mean, you never did apologize,” Rythian shrugged, folding his hands over his chest. He wasn’t going to just forgive Lalna so easily because even if the Old World was forgivable, Lalna had been nothing but a terrible nuisance.

“Really?” Lalna seemed surprised, but then his face twisted awkwardly and he looked back up at the sky. “Seems like me, yeah.”

Silence again.

“Well, I’m sorry, you know? I was...I was different. I _am_ different. Nano’s sorta changed my life,” Lalna nodded, then returned to looking at Rythian, who did not spare a glance at the scientist. With a deep sigh, Lalna continued, “I’m sorry. I honestly barely remember it all. I don’t know why. I am sorry about it, though.”

Rythian closed his eyes and sharply exhaled, “How can you be sorry if you don’t even know what you’re apologizing for? How do murder and warfare not haunt every aspect of your mind? How do you just get away with something like that? Why do you get to get away scot-free, but I get to have nightmares and Zoeya gets to have missing limbs?”

The scientist bit his tongue.

“You don’t care. You don’t care about _any_ of us. Nano’s a smart girl, but I’m worried you’ll just use her and break her like you did each and every one of us,” Rythian opened his eyes finally and faced the blonde. “This isn’t an apology. This is to clear your name for good. I'm the only one who refuses to forgive. What happened was just business as usual for you.”

With that, Rythian returned to watching the sunset in the thick, awkward silence that surrounded them. Lalna continued to stare, a little dumbfounded, before he too gazed at the sunset before them. 

“I’m sorry ‘cause I know you’re still hurting,” Lalna stated finally. “I get to forget and move on, you don’t. I don’t think that’s fair for you.”

“It’s not,” Rythian spat. 

Once again they sat in silence. The sun was barely over the horizon now. They were soon to be plunged in moonlight, but for now, they relished the final moments of blazing light from the center of the solar system. The yellow light streamed through the branches and leaves of the trees; it danced across the grass and it signaled the constant changes of their world. This moment they shared in silence, albeit tense, was special. It was the first time they had been alone since Rythian resided at Blackrock Hold. 

Among the silence, Rythian glanced at Lalna, who stared absently at the sun before him. Once again that strange feeling twisted within him — it was like guilt, but different. “You’re purple,” he commented, to fill the air. Rythian had noticed the affliction before, but he did not have time to ask about it. 

“Afraid I am,” Lalna agreed, holding a hand out to get a good look at the flux that crawled over his skin.

“What did you do?” 

“It’d be too long of a story to tell right now,” Lalna laughed, putting the hand through his hair and twisting his fingers around his locks. “Way too long. God, you don’t even know.”

Rythian hummed in agreement, then unfolded the arms across his chest. He laid them by his sides. “Magic based corruption, I presume? Playing with something you aren’t supposed to, probably. Seems in character for you.”

“To be fair, not my fault,” Lalna defended. “That sphere I had...it just did something to her at the time, y’know?”

“In your castle? You can’t _still_ live there, that was years ago, how long has this been going on without a cure?” Rythian glanced at the scientist with a raised eyebrow demonstrating genuine concern.

Lalna looked at Rythian, then shifted his entire body to face him. “I’m working on it!”

“On _vacation_?” Rythian waved a hand in the air in the general direction of the floating house. “If you needed help with this, you could’ve come to me. Swallowed your pride and whatnot.”

“Yes, because you treated me so kindly when I showed up on neutral turf,” the tone of his voice was playful, but Rythian misconstrued it quickly as hostility.

“I treated you how you treated me for so long. Don’t turn this into-“

“I’m joking, Rythian!” Lalna diffused. “Can’t we banter? We used to do a lot of that in the Old World.”

Rythian sat up as if to catch the last blink of sunlight. He didn’t say anything, at first, but soon drawled, “We used to do a lot of things.”

Lalna stared at the back of Rythian’s coat. Admired the scarf — the way the eyes of the said article seemed to stare right back. “What happened to us, Rythian?”

“I think you got too cocky,” Rythian sighed as Lalna rose to meet the endermage. “Too many machines. Too many gears rolling in your head. Always pushing people away. Never knew what you were doing, but you sure acted like it.”

Lalna lifted his legs to his chest. “I’m sure you weren’t so innocent in it all.”

“But I _was_ , Lalna,” Rythian explained. “If anything, my fault was trusting you. I thought I could. Even long after that, I had some sort of doubt that you were truly that cruel. Except all you did was prove my point, in the end. Nano did you good but...” Rythian raised a hand to the side of his face and held it there. “There’s only so much of that you can just erase.”

Lalna nodded, taking the words to heart. He really fucked up. Never particularly realized it till he saw Rythian face to face again at the table nearly 20 weeks prior to this, but as the days slugged on he realized, to some extent, the effect he likely had — with Nano’s help. 

“But,” Rythian continued with a hopeful tone before Lalna said anything, “I do appreciate you trying to make up for it all. Though the words of some apology will never truly make up for your crimes and hurt, I do hold this moment dear to me as some sort of resemblance of justice.”

It was in those moments under those stars that their fate was cemented with what little was left to put it together. The best friends that crumbled so suddenly under the blazing act of war were now two lost fools just grasping for any ounce of nostalgic purpose. Something to hold back the waves of time. As they drifted apart, it was clear that even the likes of Rythian wished for a better time. This was that time. Although it was clear that they could never really be friends again in the same way, this could finally put the demons to rest.

“You know, I miss you, Rythian,” Lalna absently said, as if Rythian was miles away. 

Rythian said nothing, only nodding in silent agreement.

**Author's Note:**

> God these two make me so emo  
> Shoutout to the homies for egging me on to post finally lol


End file.
